04/23/2011

SHARED SACRIFICE

Food security is necessary to lead a productive, healthy, and active life. It has been reported that more than forty-nine (49) million Americans lack reliable access to the food. Childhood hunger is a growing reality in America. According to the USDA, over seventeen (17) million children lived in food insecure (low food security and very low food security) households in 2009. ii. In one of the wealthiest nations in the world, the prevalence of hunger is a national travesty.

Approximately, one (1) in four (4) children in America is food insecure. The United States’ 2009 food insecurity rates were high for one of the world’s wealthiest nations. Due largely to safety net programs, the 2009 rates did not rise steeply above their 2008 levels. The federal programs that helped to prevent child hunger include Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); and school breakfasts as well as lunches. These federal feeding programs provide critical assistance to indigent children, youth, and families in crisis. In one of the wealthiest nations in the world, the prevalence of hunger is a disgrace.

In response to what many have termed as unjust proposed federal budget cuts that will disproportionately impact poor and hungry people in the United States and abroad, a broad based coalition launched a fasting, prayer, and advocacy campaign to protect funding for programs serving the most vulnerable members of society. In the first week of April, it was reported that this public awareness campaign started with over four thousand (4,000) citizens and the coalition has continued to grow. According to MoveOn.org, more than thirty-thousand (30,000) people participated in a rolling fast to protest what some have termed the immoral budget cuts Republicans are pushing in Washington. The fast participants included twenty-eight (28) progressive members of Congress. By fasting in solidarity, the campaign participants sought to make the suffering of desperately poor children, youth, and families visible to policymakers.

The prayer, fasting, rallies, marches, vigils, and teach-ins held in April were about sending the message that balancing the budget on the back of the most vulnerable persons in our society is simply unjust—and the need for that message has never been greater. The budget agreement—now public—contains cuts to critical programs but does little to make corporations and the rich pay their fair share.

More than half of the thirty-eight (38) billion dollars in cuts target education, labor, and health programs. The worst cuts and riders did not make it into the budget—but some assert that was the plan all along to propose the unthinkable, threaten to shut down the government, and then walk away with cuts that would have been as unfathomable just a few months ago.

Now some elected officials are pushing for a new round of proposals to make far deeper cuts to education, nutrition, health care, and other essential programs—while giving even bigger tax breaks to millionaires and corporations. And this time, after winning so much in the last round, some portion of the elected officials at the federal level actually have a shot at getting every last cut they want.

We, as a nation, cannot address our long-standing fiscal challenges by cutting very necessary programs and services for the most vulnerable members of our state. Instead of cutting necessary programs, we must raise taxes on corporations and the wealthiest members of society. Like the hard working citizen’s in the United States corporations and wealthy Americans must pay their fair share of the tax burden. Additionally, to reduce the deficit, many have called for cuts in the defense department. Many assert that redundancies and overall waste account for a significant portion of the defense budget.

If federal funding for programs serving the most vulnerable members of our society is important to you, it is imperative that you let your elected officials know your position on this issue. To find the name and contact information for your: US Senator, you can visit the Senate Information website at www.senate.gov/…/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm; and for the House of Representatives you can visit this website www.writerep.house.gov.

04/20/2011

This year, Earth Day is being recognized on Friday, Apr 22. It is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the earth’s natural environment. Celebrate Earth Day everyday. Do not throw out gently used items and goods that are still working and in great shape. Keep them out of the landfill by donating them. When we donate items, our earth awareness can not only decrease the already exploding landfills but also serve to improve the quality of life for many of our nation’s most vulnerable persons. Let’s all be good stewards of this beautiful place we call our home.

Verizon collects no-longer-used cell phones, batteries, and accessories and either refurbishes or recycles the phones. The refurbished cell phones along with three thousand (3,000) minutes of wireless service are provided to victims of domestic violence free of charge.

For many women violence and danger are their constant companions. Research indicates that one in four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime.[i] Indigent women are more vulnerable. As woman rebuild their lives, the refurbished cell phones serve as a link to supportive services in a time of crisis.

The pervasive problem of domestic violence takes everyone to make it stop. Consider donating your used cell phone— you could possibly save someone’s life. In honor of Earth Day 2011, you should consider donating your used cell telephone, battery, and/or charger. For information about Verizon’s cell phone donation process visit: http://aboutus.vzw.com/communityservice/hopeLine.html.

——————————————————————————–[i] Tjaden, Patricia & Thoennes, Nancy, National Institute of Justice and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, 1993, “Extent, Nature and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey,” (2000).

04/12/2011

The National Sexual Violence Resource Center has announced it’s first in a series of online forums that will focus on supporting the xCHANGE of information between advocates, prevention educators, and researchers. The forums are free. In order to participate in the forum, you must establish a user account at nsvrc.org.

The National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s first xCHANGE Forum will feature Dr. Victoria Banyard as the moderator on a discussion on bystander intervention. This event is scheduled for Tuesday, April 12 from 2:30-3:30 PM Eastern. There will be a live real time xCHANGE of information on the effectiveness of bystander intervention approaches. Bystander intervention serves as the central theme and approach in the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s 2011 Sexual Assault Awareness Month Campaign: It’s Time…to Get Involved.

The announcement for this event indicates that if you cannot participate on April 12th perhaps you can participate in the continued discussion on bystander intervention that will occur through April 15th. This exchange will not be a real time discussion but the forum will be open for questions, responses and comments; responses will be posted daily.

Today is Equal Pay Day, the day that marks how much longer working women need to work to catch up to their male counterparts’ income from the previous year. Data indicates that working women in the United States are paid an average of eighty (80) cents for every dollar paid to men. Because women earn less, on average, than men, they must work longer for the same amount of pay.

The pay gap is even larger for most women of color; on average, black women earn about seventy (70) cents, and Latinas about sixty (60) cents, of every dollar paid to all men. In 1996, Equal Pay Day was established by the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) as a public awareness event to illustrate the gap between men’s and women’s wages. For the past thirty-one (31) years, the National Committee on Pay Equity has been working diligently to eliminate sex- and race-based wage discrimination and to achieve pay equity.

In 1979, the National Committee on Pay Equity was founded as a coalition of women’s and civil rights organizations; labor unions; religious, professional, legal, and educational associations, commissions on women, state and local pay equity coalitions and individuals working to eliminate sex- and race-based wage discrimination and to achieve pay equity.

Today, 9 to 5 shared that a woman has had to work an extra three months this year to match a man’s income in 2010. As we think about the work women have done for equal wages, help is needed in the fight for the next step toward pay equity.

In its action alert, 9 to 5 reminds us of the continuing problem of sex- and race-based wage discrimination and the need to achieve pay equity. The alert reads as follows:

When the Equal Pay Act passed nearly 50 years ago, a woman earned an average of 59 cents for every dollar a man made. Today, she makes 77 cents. The annual gap between men and women’s median annual wages is a staggering $10,849. With more and more families relying on women’s wages to support them in an ailing economy, shortchanging women nearly $11,000 a year is inexcusable. Sources: 9 to 5. The National Committee on Pay Equity. The Paycheck Fairness Act. Photo Credit: Microsoft Clip Art

Solution:The Paycheck Fairness Act is an important step in the continuing struggle for women’s rights. Blocked in the Senate in 2010, when a minority of Senators prevented the bill from moving forward, the Act will be reintroduced by members of Congress this month.

The Paycheck Fairness Act would take several steps towards closing the wage gap, including: clarifying acceptable reasons for differences in pay between men and women; prohibiting retaliation against workers who inquire about or disclose information about employers’ wage policies and their pay rates; making it easier to file class action lawsuits based on equal pay; and requiring the EEOC to survey current pay data and obliging employers to submit pay data identified by race, sex and national origin of employees.

Action Needed:Help 9 to 5 and other advocacy organizations to make this very necessary change: Contact your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representative and urge them to support and sign on to the Paycheck Fairness Act as it is reintroduced this year. Women have waited too long for equal wages. We, as a nation, cannot afford to wait any longer.—9 to 5

Strengthening America’s Values and Economy For All is a new campaign to SAVE low- and moderate-income people from loss of economic security due to threatened severe cuts in federal funding, and to SAVE the federal capacity to spur economic recovery and progress for the benefit of all.

Since 1981, CHN has played a vital role in bringing human needs organizations together to expand and defend federal investments in health care, income assistance, education and training, housing, and other services for young and old. Knowledge is power, and CHN is a reliable source of essential information, presented in a straightforward manner, to enable advocates to be more effective. CHN is proud to join with advocates nationwide in the fight for low-income and vulnerable people and to make Congress respond to human need.—Coalition on Human Needs

To learn more about this campaign, visit the SAVE for All Campaign page on the website for the Coalition on Human Needs at www.chn.org.

04/11/2011

The Coalition on Human Needs and the Children’s Leadership Council are co-sponsoring a webinar entitled the “Extreme Federal Budget Threats” which will discuss the severe federal budget threats which are facing programs serving vulnerable populations. This upcoming event is scheduled for Tuesday, April 10, 2011 from noon until 1:30PM (EST).

According to an email sent this afternoon, it’s not too late to register for an important webinar delineating the federal budget budgets which threaten programs serving vulnerable persons in our society. This event reminds us that the recent federal budget conflict was only the beginning and that far greater threats are before us.

As you may be aware, Congress is facing critical decisions about whether the federal role in protecting vulnerable people, creating opportunity and spurring economic growth will be severely weakened. This webinar offers us an opportunity to learn about the unprecedented slash and shift budget proposal coming to the U.S. House floor at the end of this week, and how it would hit your state, your neighbors, and you.

The impact of this plan would start next October and continue for decades to come. The co-sponsors of this event will tell us what’s known about this year’s budget deal. And they will prepare us for what’s ahead.

For further information on how you can join in a national effort to fight against the federal budgets which are facing programs serving vulnerable persons. You should mark your calendar, register, and participate in the webinar scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, Tuesday, April 12, Noon – 1:30 p.m. (Eastern Time).

Slash and Shift Budget: One that makes massive cuts in federal spending on essential services like health care, and shifts the responsibility to pay for such services either to states/localities or to the individual. The House Budget Committee proposal is filled with slash and shift tactics, affecting health care, housing, nutrition, education, job training, and, frankly, every other domestic or human needs program.

For a description of the House Budget Committee FY 2012 proposal: http://www.chn.org/pdf/2011/NatlRyanBudgetSignOn.pdfFor an important analysis of the House Budget Committee’s proposal: http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3458